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IJAPBC Vol. 3(2), Apr-Jun, 2014

ISSN: 2277 - 4688

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCES IN

PHARMACY, BIOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY
Research Article
ALLELOPATHY POTENTIAL OF INVASIVE ALIEN SPECIES
AGERATUM CONYZOIDES L. ON GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENTAL
RESPONSES OF GREEN GRAM (VIGNA RADIATA (L.) R. WILCZEK)
AND BLACK GRAM (VIGNA MUNGO (L.) HEPPER).
Prabhakaran Jayaraman*, Anbarasan Ramalingam.
Botany Wing-DDE, Annamalai University
Annamalai Nagar, Tamilnadu, India- 608 002.

ABSTRACT
An experiment was conducted to evaluate the allelopathic potential of aqueous extracts of Ageratum conyzoides
L. on the germination and seedling growth of green gram and black gram. It was noted that various concentrations of whole plant extracts (5, 10, 15 and 20g/L-1) of A. conyzoides gradually reduced the germination (%), seedling length, dry weight, photosynthetic pigments, protein, amino acid contents of green gram and black gram.
The inhibitory effects were concentration dependant. Further, the results revealed that the extract of A. conyzoides had more adverse affects on the growth of green gram than black gram.
Key words: Allelopathic potential, Ageratum conyzoides, black gram and green gram.
INTRODUCTION
Allelopathy is an important mechanism of plant interference by the addition of plant-produced phytotoxins
to the environment. Many of the phytotoxic substance suspected of causing germination and growth
inhibition have been identified from plant tissues and
soil, these substance are termed allelochemics or allelochemicals1. Commonly plants produce a large variety of secondary metabolites like phenol, tannins,
terpenoids, alkaloids, polyacetylene, fatty acids, steroids, which have an allelopathic effect on the growth
and development of the same plant or neighboring
plants. Considerable knowledge has been obtained
concerning the chemicals involved in allelopathy2.
Ageratum conyzoides L. is one of the well known
invasive species, belonging to astraceae family, originated from Central America. Ageratum was derived
from the Greek words a geras, meaning non-aging,
referring to the longevity of the whole plant and con-

yzoides derived from konyz the Greek name of Inula helenium which, the plant resembles3. It has a
particular odor likened in that of a male goat and
hence its name goat weed or billy goat weed4. It is
usually found in waste places, rice fields, gardens,
low secondary growth forests, forest-edges, roadsides, water courses etc., where there is ample exposure to sunlight5. A. conyzoides is a weed in many
annual and perennial crops and has been reported as
host of many crop diseases6. Weeds interfere with
growth and production of crops and therefore exert
significant ecological and economic impacts7,8.. Rice
yield in Asia has been negatively associated with A.
conyzoides density9. Some studies have demonstrated
allelopathy in the weed; however, shoot competition
for light appears to be a major mode of interference
in crops6. Hence, the present investigation has been
aimed to evaluate the allelopathic potential of A. con-

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IJAPBC Vol. 3(2), Apr-Jun, 2014

yzoides on growth and development of two pulses i.e.

black gram (Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper) and green
gram (Vigna radiata (L.) R. Wilczek).

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The higher concentration (T4) showed significant

inhibitory effects on all growth parameters of both
the crops. The maximum reduction on germination
percentage, seedling length and biomass production
was noticed in green gram than black gram. The
study of Regila and Vijayakumar,14 supports the
present findings that aqueous leaf extract of Jatropha
curcas inhibit the growth of Capsicum annum. Duhan
and Lakshminarayanan15 noticed that allelopathic
activity depended on the concentration of the extracts, target species and the plant tissues from which
the chemicals were extracted. Increasing inhibitory
rates with increasing concentration was in accordance
with previous reports.16,17 There is much evidence
that A. conyzoides inhibits germination and growth
of other plants through chemicals produced by its
root and shoot systems. Fresh leaves and volatile oils
of A. conyzoides inhibited the seedling growth of
various crops18 including peanut, redroot amaranth,
cucumber and ryegrass. Kong et al.,19 reported that
the shoot extracts of A. conyzoides inhibited germination of Amaranthus caudatus, Digitaria sanguinalis
and Lactuca sativa. Extracts of A. conyzoides reduced the germination of wheat and rice seeds 20, 21.
The phenolics present in leaf extracts and residues of
A. conyzoides negatively interfere with the growth
and development of wheat 22. Root and shoot length
and biomass accumulation of rice are significantly
reduced by 18 to 30% when grown in the rhizosphere
soil of A. conyzoides23. A. conyzoides causes reduction in growth and nodulation of chickpea (Cicer
arietinum) 24.
The results showed that the percentage of inhibition
on the total chlorophyll, proteins and amino acid contents of both test crops increased with increasing the
extract concentrations of A. conyzoides (tables, 2&3).
Similar findings were made by Padhy et al., 25 in
which, the reduction of chlorophyll pigments in rice
seedlings was caused by leachates of Ageratina adenophora.
Phytotoxic effects may be caused by more than one
chemical component present in the organ and the
crop species react differently to these compounds and
the inhibition might have been presence of allelochemicals in the plant extracts. Allelopathic agents
may act in many ways directly and indirectly to modify plant growth. They may inhibit cell division, cell
elongation, inhibit hormonal relations, modify mineral uptake, retard photosynthesis, inhibit protein synthesis, change permeability of membranes, inhibit
specific enzymes, affect respiration and stomatal
opening 26,27. Membrane plays as key role in the ability of a plant cell to withstand stress of plants. Allelochemicals can damage cell membrane through direct
interact with its constituent or an impairment of some

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Experiments were carried out during April to August2013 at Department of Botany and Botany WingDDE, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, Tamil Nadu, India. Whole plants of A. conyzoides were
collected from post harvest
paddy fields in the
premises of Faculty of Agriculture, Annamalai University and the collected plant samples thoroughly
rinsed under the tap water by 2 to 3 times followed
by 0.1% Mercuric Chloride (HgCl2) for maximum
sterilization. Thereafter, plants were made into small
pieces and dried under shade for 20 days then
crushed with ordinary grinder until a powder form is
formed. The weed powder at the quantity of 0 (T0)
5(T1), 10 (T2), 15 (T3), and 20 (T4) g/L-1 with normal
tap water was allowed for 48 hours in room temperature then filtered by muslin cloth and filtrate was
used in the experiment.
The seeds of black gram (Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper)
cv. ADT-3 and green gram (Vigna radiata (L.) R.
Wilczek) cv. CO-3, were procured from Tamil Nadu
Agriculture University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
Seeds with uniform size, colour and weight were
selected and stored in metal tins as suggested by Rao
et al.,10.Viability of seeds were analyzed by water
soaking method.
The experiment was carried out using earthen pots
(30cm x 18cm) filled with 6 kg of soil mixture (sand:
red soil: cow dunk=2:2:1: w/w) and the seeds were
sown. Each pot was irrigated uniformly with different
concentrations of weed extracts and the normal tap
water was used as control. The experiments were
carried out with five replicates and the extracts/water
was irrigated to the pots in alternative days up to
15th day from the day of seed sown. Germination
percentage was recorded up to 7th day of both the
crops. The growth parameters (seedling length, fresh
and dry weight) and bio chemical constituents such
as chlorophyll11, amino acids12 and proteins13, were
analyzed on 15th DAS. Obtained data were analyzed
for its significance using Analysis of Variance
(ANOVA), followed by Tukeys Multiple Range
Test (TMRT) at P<0.5% level.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Aqueous extracts of A. conyzoides showed inhibitory
effects on seed germination percentage, root and
shoot length, fresh and dry weight of both the test
crops compared with their respective control set (table-1 and fig.1). The degree of inhibition was increased with increasing the extract concentrations.

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metabolic function necessary to the maintenance of

membrane function28.
Allelopathic inhibition is complex and can involve
the interaction of different classes of
chemicals
like flavonoids, chromenes, benzofurans and terpenoids, carbohydrates, and amino acids, with mixtures of
different compounds sometimes having a greater allelopathic effect than individual compounds alone26.
A.conyzoides possessing the wide range of secondary
metabolites including flavonoids, chromenes, benzofurans, terpenoids, Ageratochromene-dimer, caryophyllene and caffeic acid. Among these secondary metabolites, some are allelochemicals inhibiting
the growth of other organisms4,29. The weed A. conyzoides may release these allelochemicals into the
soil, which chemically arrest the primary bio chemical process of during seed germination and create an
environmental stress on growth of pulse crop seedlings.
CONCLUSION
A.conyzoides exhibited strong growth suppressing
allelopathic effect on germination and growth of

ISSN: 2277 - 4688

black gram and green gram. Further the experimental

data revealed that the higher degree of growth suppression caused by A. conyzoides on green gram
rather than black gram. However, phytochemical
profiles of A. conyzoides and their specific role on
crop growth and soil health under field conditions are
to be studied for understanding the mechanisms of
their allelopathic potential in detail.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Authors convey their sincere thanks to University
Grants Commission, New Delhi, India for providing
financial assistance under Major Research Project
Scheme (F.42-954/2013(SR),Dt.;14.03.2013 ) at the
Department of Botany Wing-DDE, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, Tamil Nadu, India. Authors are also thankful to the, Professor and Head,
Department of Botany, Botany Wing- DDE and authorities of Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar,
Tamil Nadu, India for providing good infrastructure
facilities during the course of work and preparation
of the manuscript.

Table-1
Allelopathic potential of A. conyzoides L. on germination percentage,
shoot length, root length (cm/plant) and total fresh and dry weight (g/plant) of
V. mungo and V. radiata.
Extract Concentrations

V.mungo
Germination

Shoot
length

Root
length

V. radiate
Total
fr.wt.

Total dry
wt.

%
T0

T1

91

Total
fr.wt.

Total dry
wt.

9.23

6.67

0.172

0.094

96 a

11.52 a

7.74 a

0.216 a

0.121 a

5.27 b

0.147 b

0.073 b

86 b

10.12 b

6.31 b

0.204 a

0.103 b

(-9.89)

(-15.16)

(-20.98)

(-14.53)

(-22.34)

(-10.41)

(-12.15)

(-18.47)

(-5.55)

(-14.87)

(-16.48)
d

(-31.86)
44

T4

Root
length

7.83 b

62
T3

Shoot
length

82b

76
T2

Germination

(-51.64)

6.49

(-29.68)
5.01

(-45.72)
4.61

(-50.05)

4.85

(-27.28)
3.46

(-48.12)
2.03

(-69.56)

0.132

(-23.25)
0.112

(-34.88)
0.086

(-50.00)

0.057

(-39.36)
0.042

(-55.31)
0.036

(-61.70)

71

(-26.04)
58

(-39.58)
36

(-62.05)

8.75

(-24.04)
7.31

(-36.54)
5.91

(-48.69)

4.92

(-36.43)
3.50

(-54.78)
2.12

(-72.60)

0.185

(-14.35)
0.166

(-23.14)
0.139

0.082 c
(-32.23)
0.063 d
(-47.93)

(-35.64)

0.045 e
(-62.80)

Mean with different alphabets in a column differed significantly as per Tukeys Multiple Range Test (TNRT) (P<0.05).Data in parenthesis
indicates % increase (+), decrease (-) over control

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Table-2
Allelopathic potential of A. conyzoides L. on chlorophyll content (mg/g.fr.wt) of
V. mungo and V. radiata
Extract
Conc.

T0

T1

T2

T3

T4

V.mungo

V.radiata

Chl.a

Chl.b

Total chl.

Chl.a

Chl.b

Total chl.

0.382 a

0.319 a

0.701 a

0.285 a

0.264 a

0.549 a

0.364 b

0.315 a

0.685 a

0.251 b

0.217 b

0.468 b

(-4.71)

(-1.25)

(-2.28)

(-11.92)

(-17.80)

(-14.75)

0.331 c

0.278 b

0.609 b

0.224 c

0.196 c

0.421 c

(-13.35)

(-12.85)

(-13.12)

(-21.40)

(-25.75)

(-23.31)

0.302 d

0.242 c

0.544 c

0.188 d

0.176 d

0.364 d

(-20.94)

(-24.13)

(-22.39)

(-34.03)

(-33.33)

(-33.69)

0.279 e

0.197 d

0.502 d

0.143 e

0.159 e

0.328 e

(-26.96)

(-38.24)

(-28.38)

(-49.82)

(-39.77)

(-40.25)

Mean with different alphabets in a column differed significantly as per Tukeys Multiple Range Test (TNRT) (P<0.05).Data in parenthesis indicates % increase (+), decrease (-) over control.

Table-3
Allelopathic potential of A.conyzoides L. on Amino acid, protein, Total Sugar and Starch contents (mg/g.fr.wt)
of V.mungo and V.radiata (15thday old seedlings)
Extract
Conc.

V.mungo
Amino

V.radiata

Protein

Total sugar

Starch

Amino acid

Protein

Total

0.560 a

0.285 a

0.583 a

0.584 a

0.621 a

0.291 a

0.661 a

0.670 a

0.540 a

0.265 a
(-7.01)

0.551 b

0.559 b

0.609 a

0.271 a

0.640 a

0.651a b

(-5.48)

(-4.28)

(-1.93)

(-6.87)

(-3.17)

(-2.83)

acid
T0

T1

T2

(-3.57)

T4

sugar

0.523 b

0.241 b

0.518 c

0.538 c

0.585 b

0.258 b

0.626a b

0.630 c

(-6.60)

(-15.43)

(-11.14)

(-7.87)

(-5.79)

(-11.34)

(-5.29)

(-5.97)

0.449 d

0.485 d

0.513 c

0.231 c

0.512 c

0.532 d

0.484 c
T3

Starch

0.217 c

(-13.57)

(-23.85)

(-22.95)

(-16.95)

(-17.39)

(-20.61)

(-22.54)

(-20.59)

0.426 d

0.192 d

0.403 e

0.386 e

0.446 d

0.185 d

0.406 d

0.469 e

(-23.92)

(-32.63)

(-30.87)

(-33.90)

(-28.18)

(-36.42)

(-38.57)

(-30.00)

Mean with different alphabets in a column differed significantly as per Tukeys Multiple Range Test (TNRT) (P<0.05).Data in parenthesis indicates % increase (+), decrease (-) over control.

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Fig.1.
Germination % of Black gram and Green gram seeds Exposed to various
concentrations of A.conyzoides extract
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